The Story of Precious

As 2010 draws to a close, I decided to check in on the blog and my emails that come through this address. It’s been a while since I posted. So much has been happening and so little at the same time. Our landscape business has been good and then not good. Winter is usually challenging but we are holding on. When I am trying to keep a positive attitude, I don’t write as much, well not the kinds of things I write here but as I checked in, I found some really good messages from a certain writer I know – me! I reminded myself what I need to do when things are getting a bit too challenging.

For instance, I am going through some grief again. At this point I do not know if my closest friend is still with us. The last time I talked to her brother, they were taking it one day at a time. She has been fighting the fight against both breast cancer and bone cancer. After several different round of treatments she had decided to stop. I was away in Santa Fe for a week with my son and his girlfriend. I had called and spoken with her son once and her brother another time. Then I just didn’t want to know if the news was not good. And another matter that I wanted to avoid was happening too.

Thirteen and a half years ago, the family went to Kansas. We had Autumn who had 4 kittens and her feral mother, Monique mostly living on our front porch. We had a friend who was coming by to feed the cats and dogs and check on them. They were happier staying at home. Besides, no one could touch Monique and she was only inside with Autumn to protect and help with her kittens. Monique was a strange little cat. It felt like she had been tame at some point but abused severely. She couldn’t meow and as long as we didn’t try to touch her, she seemed okay closed inside the porch.

Monique looked like a British Short Hair variety – black, average body, with short legs and pointed feet. The day after we left for our trip, Monique had 4 kittens herself but the person taking care of her had no idea. She had them well hidden under the porch and not being able to get close to her, he didn’t realize that her body shape had changed from a little round tummy to a flat tummy.

Monique had been having two litters of kittens a year under our house. The first litter never appeared. When she would finally appear after the second litter, she would only have one kitten. The last was Autumn. Autumn was feral at first but it turned out her daddy was a Maine Coon and they just aren’t wild. We eventually got Autumn to let us handle her and then she went into heat and had 4 orange male kittens. The sire of her kittens was there. He was wild too and was waiting to kill the male kittens. Monique seemed to have had it happen before and she stayed right there ready to fight him if he came too close. When we boxed up Autumn and the newly born kittens to move her inside, Monique got in the box too. And that is how we got her to move inside, not knowing that she was pregnant too.

Her four kittens all looked like Siamese cats. We had noticed when she was in season that she liked to wait for this big Tom that looked Siamese. We called him Big Daddy. He wasn’t full blood because he had a very square looking head – not a true Siamese. But his colors and her body shape made for 4 apple headed kittens with seal points. Only one was male and he had some longer hair. Sadly, the long hair attracted fleas terribly and under the porch was not a very good environment. He began to fail. She didn’t know how to help him and she stopped nursing him. The 3 females were getting weaker too. I tried to help him. He was a fighter but he just couldn’t make it. Then the second one went. She was a beautiful one with huge eyes and more of a lilac point. A lady came along and wanted to try to save the largest one. It wasn’t a good idea but I wasn’t having any luck. I took the last one to the vet. He said she had flea anemia but if I could keep her alive for 48 hours, she would make it.

I kept her in a tiny shoebox by my face in the bed. I combed off the fleas as much as possible. I used an eyedropper and fed her formula with Super Blue Green algae and an egg in it. I would take her out to Monique but the mother wouldn’t try to nurse her for a while. She and Autumn would wash and massage her down and I would take her back inside and give her a couple of drops every hour or two. After a few hours and staying up all night – I felt like I did when my children were keeping me up all night – her tongue began to get some color in it again. Once she made it through the crisis, her mom began to nurse her again.

We could assume that what had been happening with Monique each year was that as a wild cat she had to leave her kittens to find food. Either the tomcats or other predators, like under the house rats, were getting her kittens. She would immediately go into heat again having the second litter in June each year. The fleas under the house in the dirt from the wild critters were getting her second litter. She would manage to save one. The one we helped her save became Precious. Precious was my baby and she considered me her mother. I had decided if I could catch Monique, I would get her spayed and after recovery let her continue to live under my house as a feral – but spayed – cat. Precious was going to be 8 weeks old on Monday. The flea anemia had slowed her growth but she was eating solid food. On Friday morning I went out to the porch to greet the cats as I always did and found Monique had died. I didn’t know why. “Doug, Monique is dead!” A strange little cat that was very intelligent had come and given us Autumn and Precious (and Chang, our other cat) and then she was gone.

Precious was a very sweet cat. She was a little slow. We attributed it to the lack of oxygen to her brain when she was little. She had tiny short legs like her mother and a small head but she got fat even before she was spayed. After the operation, she got even fatter. She was shaped like a basketball with legs. For many years she was good friends with Scully, another cat who decided to come live with us. We didn’t get Scully and Precious spayed for a long time finding out that if you don’t let them breed, they can get very sick. So when we had to spay Scully in an emergency we decided that we should take care of Precious too. The vet came back and said that Precious had some tumors and she wanted to send some tissues of to be tested. That would be another $60. I said, “No, if Precious gets worse, I will put her down. I won’t put her through expensive cancer treatment that may or may not work. Precious seems to be fine for now and we will take it one day at a time.”

After their surgeries, Scully wouldn’t have anything to do with the other cats. She was content being alone. Precious always needed to be close to another animal. She was tolerated by Chang who lived separately in the back of the house and sometimes she would spend time with him. We had and have a white dove. Precious seemed to think that bird was hers. After a few years we began to let Chang go outside. Precious would want to go and would follow him around doing what he did. In 2008, Chang stopped eating and then stopped drinking water. The vets don’t really know what causes this ailment and can only treated it with cortisone shots, steroids. After a while they don’t work anymore and the cats just waste away. I call it the wasting disease. Chang died on Memorial Day. Precious then decided to attach to out current dog, Sukie. Precious did not know she was a cat, did not know she wasn’t human, and certainly did not know that there was a difference in cats and dogs. Sukie is a sweetheart. They became close friends.
A few weeks ago 13 year old and 5 months Precious seemed to have had a stroke. I had a dog that had a stroke at 16 years old. He had one in the morning and by night had the second and died in my arms. I expected Precious would have another within 24 hours but she didn’t. In fact, she seemed to recover. She gradually got to where she could walk again, even jump and get in a chair (though getting down she kind of fell on her face), and was walking and running normally. She was eating somewhat normally and drinking water. Getting in and out of the litter box was a little difficult. Soon she began to get litter clumped up on her feet. I figured out that she was urinating on her feet or down her legs.

We had planned our trip to Santa Fe for Christmas. Precious began to show the symptoms of the wasting disease. I knew the vets were expensive and could only offer a cortisone shot. But I couldn’t cancel the trip. We had our friend Buzz to stay at the house but when we left I was very concerned that Precious was not going to be here when we returned. On Monday, Dec 27, Buzz called. She seemed to have had another stroke and was not able to walk on Sunday. When he got up, our sweet little precious Precious had left us. I had to come home to her not being here ever again.

I believe she lives on but her physical presence is missed. Sukie keeps looking for her like she did when Chang died. The other cats are trying but they just aren’t my baby girl Precious. She was a cute cat and 100% unconditional love. So here I honor and praise what she gave us. I love you Precious. I am sorry I could not fix the problem. Please forgive me. Thank you for all the love and joy you gave us and for just being you. Rest in Peace my little one. We miss your presence though I know you are wondering around here wanting me to pick you up. It’s a new relationship and eventually you will find you must go someplace else. You will always be welcome here though if you want to drop in from time to time.

A Squirrel Story

Yesterday, my son went out into the yard to sit and think about what he wants to do next with his life. He discovered an injured squirrel who seemed to have a broken back and a small puncture wound. He and his dad decided to see if they could rescue it and at least protect it from the dog and cats in what appeared to be its dying process. They put on leather gloves but that wasn't enough. The little rodent bit through to Doug's finger and hard. Bleeding stopped and the squirrel was put in a wagon with a screen on top. At first we left it on the patio but our little part Russell terrier is a hunting dog - probably what happened to the squirrel in the first place - so they moved the wagon outside of the fence in the driveway as it was safer.

They gave it some water and our figs are ripe. Kyler put some figs in there with it. Later one was gone and the half moving squirrel had moved the others into a pile in the corner. Got up this morning and went to see if it was still alive. Although there was a screen tight on the wagon and towels on it to shade it and conceal it, the little guy was gone. It had taken one bite from each of the other figs and had somehow squeezed through a gap in the window screen. It is nowhere to be found.

I suppose the message it came to give to Kyler was complete and so was his presence. Did he go somewhere to die or climb up the tree? we don't know. Maybe figs are healing - for squirrels.

Animal Totems and Messages - how do you know?

Animal Totems and Messages

by Katherine Ari                                                                                    July 16, 2009 

I was in two of the big bookstores this week, Barnes and Noble and Borders.  I also surf the books online at Amazon.com and other book sites. I have several different Animal Card decks and books on animal symbolism and the messages they bring us.  As I look at what is out there, I see whole books on how to find your totem.  I want to sell my stories like the next person and would love to have them published and on the lists and shelves, but when that happens, I hope I have enough really informative and entertaining information that I don’t have to take five hundred pages to say what can be said in one page. 

By knowing the secret messages of animal behavior, they can help us in our lives.  A single animal or a group of animals may come to us to give us certain messages.  When you are paying attention, it may happen more often. 

I love animals and love nature.  I have many pets and I have a beautiful garden in my yard where I recognize the wild life inhabitants that live in harmony with me and my family.  I have other encounters hiking, traveling, and even unexpected ones at the grocery store or the mall.  I believe that the animals I dream about are real encounters just like the ones I have when I walk out the door. 

There are lots of ideas and theories and beliefs about what constitutes a totem or special message.  I know what is significant to me, and that is the key to answer the question of how to find your animal totems.  What does the animal mean to you? 

Let’s take dreams.  If you dream about a snake and you are petrified of them, the dream animal means one thing.  I’m not upset by snakes and so if I dream of one, I pay attention to the kind and the circumstances around the dream.  I use books by Ted Andrews and Jamie Sams as well, and several others.  Sometimes, certain animals, especially particular birds, are not in the spirituality books like those by Andrews or Sams.  So I take the general information about birds or mammals and then go to a National Geographic book or internet site to find out more.  I take all of the information and write it down, study it and then combine the meanings with what is going on in my life. There are certain questions to ask yourself.  You must always be discerning when applying meanings to your own life.

This is VERY important.  No meaning is set in stone, and no animal encounter necessarily means the same for you as it does for me.  The following are some questions to ask yourself.  Are there animals, birds, insects, sea life, etc that you are particularly fond of and always have been drawn to?  My favorite pets as a child were cats and I always loved black panthers, played with frogs, dogs, and encountered snakes.  I am definitely a black panther person.  Today, I have regular contact with spiders, dragonflies, cardinals and robins, crows, frogs, cats, dogs, deer, butterflies and hummingbirds, and hawks and buzzards. I love parying mantises.  When I encounter an animal or bird that is not a usual encounter or just plain unexpected like in dreams, I look them up because they usually appear to tell me something about what is going on at the time.  And that is one page with an answer about animal totems and messengers. The way I can help you is if you write me about your animals or wildlife contact I can help you find the meaning that is for YOU. (Okay, that was an advertisement and invitation or request for you to write me; I admit it!)

Katherine Ari’s Wildlife Encounters July 15 - 17, 2009

by Katherine Ari

 

            It is a regular thing for me to have encounters with crows.  They do all sorts of things to get my attention.  We do not have ravens in Georgia, which are bigger crows, so if the crow is a really big crow, I get out my books and study ravens as well.  The other morning, I was awakened by a bunch of average sized crows in my trees over my bedroom raising a ruckus.  Sometimes such a commotion means there is a hawk, or owl, invading the neighborhood, or that that greedy Great Blue Heron is about to land in my yard to eat my pet fish.  They know I do not welcome that intruder and they do their best to chase him away or at least tell me his has landed on the roof of the house or garage.

I got out of the bed, slipped on some sandals and went ahead and let the dog out.  She would chase the heron away if it was in the yard.  I saw no hawk or heron but they were hopping around from tree to tree until they were sure I saw them.  Ted Andrews says in Animal Spirit Pocket Guide to expect unexpected magical help with obstacles or problems at hand.  My own magic is calling and I will answer the call AND with several crows, I interpret that to mean in several ways or a big way – lots of motion.  I do have some obstacles in my life right now that need some magic or unexpected help.

I was out in the yard yesterday walking the dog and two of my cats when I had this beautiful magical encounter with a black and yellow swallowtail butterfly.  It wasn’t just that there was a butterfly in my garden.  He flittered around everywhere I walked.  “New love and joy are coming.” (Andrews) I should get ready to dance the Dance of Joy as I easily go through a new transformation.

The last dream I had last night included three animals, though one was not exactly identifiable.  There was a dog or really a fat puppy that was also a baby that was dependent and needy but growing healthily very fast in the dream.  I was caring for it and it grew strong and wanted to get out of the box to play.  It could talk as dream animals often do, and it was more like a growing baby.  Babies for someone my age usually mean new ideas or projects that will flourish if I nurture and care for them correctly. 

A dog is about being faithful and protecting the new ventures.  I can have success by choosing the right companions or relationships for these ideas.

So then I was carrying the puppy to another space and found us riding on an elephant.  It was going around some body of water and we had to walk over some water that had a fish that was about 12 feet long surrounded by various sizes of smaller fish of the same variety. And of course water is about emotions and the life force itself.

The encounter with the fish was very brief but still significant. I cannot identify the exact kind of fish but I remember the shape and sizes.  In Andrews’ book, Animal-Wise he has a drawing of a Barracuda.  The mouth of my dream fish was not the same and I can interpret that to mean it was not as threatening as a Barracuda would be.  Its body shape was a lot like a Florida tarpon fish – but tarpons are not in that book.

The main meaning of the barracuda is to go my own way and not follow the group. The younger ones may school as they grow and then they break away when they are ready to hunt alone.  Then they put themselves in the position to take advantage of whatever presents itself – in my case, opportunities expected or unexpected.

I was looking at books at Barnes and Noble about starting businesses.  The book I was looking at was about blogging and the author had somewhat of an authoritative and judgmental attitude.  It was written two years ago.  I suppose that the whole blogging experience has many avenues and ideas.  What works for one kind of business or blog does not necessarily apply to another entry.  Across the board blanket instructions and proclamations apply to the writer’s own experience with his/her field of interests. I think the barracuda that was too big to be in the school of younger fish and needing to break away was a good image for me as I start these new ventures.  I just need to do what I think I need to do and follow my own way.  We could even say I need to break out of the box or the race consciousness of the “crowd”.

Then there was the elephant.  An elephant is not native to this continent nor is it something that most of us see on a regular basis.  When I was a child, I lived next door to two or three winter quarters for some circuses.  Two of them had elephants.  I DID hear and see them daily.  I remember always being impressed by their strength and gentle power. 

They may not live all over the world these days, but they have myth and stories about them in many societies.  In India, there are several of the Hindu gods that are connected to elephants.  They originate in India and Africa today.  My dream animal, as well as the ones at my neighboring circuses as a child, was an African elephant, large with ears different from those from India.

They have great sexual power.  They have a great sense of smell that tells us, “Do things smell right?”  My sense of smell can help me open other energies and otherwise inaccessible worlds. They use their ivory tusks to dig that symbolically means knowledge of plants and roots.  Part of our business is working with plants and rooting new cuttings but I also work with others to find the “root” of the challenges.

Elephants have lots of fantasy tales about them like they never forget.  Well, that isn’t true, but if someone harms them, they might not forget the offender and even seek revenge.  But one thing is true is that the elephant societies are usually females unless it is the mating season.  They travel with three ages of females, young, adult and wise old ones that are their leaders.  They take care of each other and do grieve when one dies. 

The final message for me is to own the Wise Woman status of my maturity and to be strong in my own unique self.  I can draw ancient wisdoms, strength, and power by reclaiming my primordial royalty (Andrews).

I am beginning this new venture blogging and striking out in new directions.  I have my faithful protectors riding with me (the dog).  I am ready to go my own way without staying with the younger “school” of fish (the big fish).  I remember thinking the big fish was 12 feet long which could mean             12 days, 12 weeks or 12 months.  It could also mean 12 something else.  I need to go my way and use my Wise woman knowledge.  I can expect transmuting joy (the butterfly) and magical energies from unexpected ways to help with the obstacles (my loyal crow friends).  I need to trust “what smells right” or doesn’t.  I am strong in my own self, my wisdom, my power and my primordial royalty, past life experiences and respecting traditions and others and doing what is best for everyone involved.  I put life coach on my new business cards, but I think Wise Woman Guide fits me better.  No, it is not a familiar in the world of advertising, but then, neither am I.  I am quite comfortable with who I am.  I DO feel a lot of joy being me.

AFTER THOUGHT - Do I need these messages to be successful or to know what to do next on my Life's journey?  No.  Do they tell me something I don't know?  No.  They reassure me and the confirm what I do know.  They encourage me to continue on in the direction I am going.  They tell me I am doing what is right for ME.  And I am aware that they are working with me on these experiences and challenges.  Sometimes, when I get so caught up in the process, I miss things.  They will usually tell me to remember the whole picture and maybe even show me some new or better ideas.  I am grateful for their signs and messages and glad to know "they have my back" because they do, they really do.

Little smiles about cows and bulls

Animals Stories – Funny – Cows

Many times when I write about animals, there are symbolic meanings and messages.  But sometimes, they are just stories to make you smile or chuckle.  The following are related to cows or bulls.

My oldest son is 27 years old now, a full-grown man.  When he was about 1½ we were driving along a road where there were pastures, vegetable gardens, and cows or horses.  My husband, Doug, grew up on a farm.  He probably knew what cows, horses, and other farm animals were before he could walk.  It was just part of his childhood and adult life as well.

  But Miko had not been born into farm country.  We lived in a small rental house in Lithia Springs, GA which seemed like country but subdivisions were around the corner and Atlanta only minutes away. 

We were driving along a back road and saw a cow with her baby calf along the fencerow.  It seemed like an innocent thing to just stop and show Miko the calf.

  We stopped and got out of the car.  “Miko, this is a baby cow.  It’s called a calf.”  He looked at it and the calf looked at him.  Well, it seems that the baby cow had not seen a baby human either.  He took one look at Miko and let out a big blood screeching bellow.  Then Miko screamed and started crying.  The mother cow, breathing fire and glaring at us, moved between the calf and the fence. Doug said, “I didn’t expect that!”

  I held toddler Miko until he stopped crying.  He is still somewhat uncomfortable around cows.

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We used to have a friend with over 1000 acres of land.  He had cows and horses and chickens on part of his property but one section he left to woods.  We had permission to “play in his woods” whenever we wanted.  It was on a narrow dirt/gravel road and rarely a car would come down the road.  Across the road was another big privately owned piece of property.  It was mostly pasture but there was one tree right where we usually parked.

  One day, the rather rotund owner came riding up on a four-wheeler.  He pulled up to the fence and called us over.  Seems he had a bull that had an injured foot and he had to put some medicine on it every day.  The bull didn’t like the medicine and he would hide from Mr. Tidwell when it was medicine time.  He wanted to know if we had seen him.

“No, we haven’t seen any bull or cows,” we replied.  He drove around the tree and then headed up the next hill.  As soon as he got out of sight, that sneaky old bull came out from behind the tree and trotted off in the opposite direction of Mr. Tidwell on the four-wheeler.

“Would you look at that?  He was right there all along.  Mr. Tidwell probably will think we were lying.  How could we not see a big bull right there in the grass?”

This little story was just sweet.  Our second son was asleep in his car seat as we traveled on I-20 from Georgia towards Oklahoma.  I think we were in Alabama.   He woke up and said excitedly, “Look!  Puppies!”  What he saw up on the hill were black and white milk cows.  I gave Doug that cautionary look not to make fun of him and laugh.  “Actually, Kyler, there are milk cows.” I said with a smile – but not a laugh.

The next story did not happen to us but a friend told me about it.  He was a train engineer and since my daddy was a train engineer for 42 years, I like train stories. 

Seems as the train was traveling through the countryside, there was a farmer with a bull that kept getting through the right of way fence along the tracks.  That bull was a typical bull and territorial.  He didn’t like that big black engine coming through his turf.  As it came barreling into his “space”, that crazy bull charged the engine – head on.

Well, I won’t go into detail what happened next – let’s just say he took a short trip to become hamburger. 

BUT – the bull actually had the last say in that battle.  When his body was sucked under the front of the engine, his bones got tangled up in the break lines or something like that.  It cut the cables and disabled the engine.  It couldn’t move or even start back up.  They had to radio the base station and have another engine come out.  The train was stopped for several hours.  The bull lost – but it won.